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August 8, 2007

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27 comments:

Part of me is glad he did it, it's a major achievement. Another part of me is upset, because he used drugs to alter his body to do it. Another part of me doesn't really care because A-Rod is projected to break his record in a few years.

The final part of me is cringing because I'm rooting for A-Rod to break the record.

I'm so happy to have seen it! Now I've seen this record broken twice. Very cool.

Every statistic and record in baseball is subject to variables. Depending on the era, the balls were different, the season was a different length, the pitchers were only facing white players, there was a less demanding travel schedule, there may or may not have been cheating of any kind, on and on. When it comes to raw numbers for records, we don't distinguish.

Redsock: I like your list, plus don't forget the 4-team expansion in the 90's that watered down the talent, at least for awhile. I don't think enough 'expert' attention has been given to that. When Maris broke Ruth's record in '61, the main bitch back then wasn't the expanded schedule (from 154 to 162 games) but that there were 2 expansion teams and 20 new pitchers who maybe didn't belong. I don't know how you'd measure pitching depth, but I'm sure some stat. genius could figure it out.

Sure, it dilutes hitting by creating jobs for minor leaguers, but the good individual hitters already there feast on bad pitching. The dilution happens year 1 and gradually evens out as the years roll by. I think 4 new teams between 93 and 97 was too much, too fast.

Absolutely, there are many factors. In fact, the mound was lowered in '68. It all serves to highlight the fact that baseball has played through many different 'eras'. Fans should be careful when tub-thumping about who was or is 'better' and who's 'best'. It's all relative.

pokerwolf: I'm glad you at least said you're cringing for rooting for it--but, I still don't get why A-Rod becomes this default "great non-drug hope." He's like 250 HR away from a record that's still going up. Yet people talk about it like it's a guarantee. I also say, Is he who parents want their kids to be like?

Personally, I'd rather my spouse do something that helps them do their job better that everyone else at their job is doing, too, than be out at strip clubs with other dudes. You know, if I had to choose.

Also, why are A-Rod's methods of cheating (which you can see right there on the field) worse than Bonds' unproven methods?

And that the Yanks have a bad W-L. Oh, and that no Yankees ever hold major individual or team records. And that the ones they do hold are soon broken in ways that involve errors and bloop hits and freak accidents. But that's it!

Will Alex Rodriguez be breaking the HR record before or after Ken "A Sure Bet" Griffey does it?

Before. I don't see Griffey having a long enough career in order to break the record. The only way he might do it is if he switches to the American League and becomes a DH after he can't field anymore. If his knees can take it that long, that is.

a sad day for baseball. a sad day for hank aaron. my thoughts are with him, not barry.

there's what you can empirically prove, and there's what you know is right or wrong. at the very least, it's very wrong that a man who suffered ACTUAL adversity during his lifetime is having his greatest achievement taken from him by a misogynistic, obnoxious scumbag who throughout the last decade has brushed off critics of his noxious personality as perpetrators of the same adversity aaron actually faced.

it's impossible for me not to see bonds as a pretender, both to aaron's record and his legacy.

I think Redsock's comment about Griffey was sarcastic. Griffey was supposed to be the sure bet to break Aaron's record, and we see where that went. Alex Rodriguez seems to be the frontrunner now, but that could easily change, too.

Sad day for baseball? I think it's sad that any baseball fan would feel that way.

Only three men have hit over 61 hr's since Roger Maris.....Bonds, McGwire and Sosa, McGwire twice and Sosa three times.....All of three of them used steroids, at least there is very little doubt in my mind that they all did....Not livelier baseballs , smaller ballparks, strikezones, or legal training methods had anything to do with that.They all hit over 61 because they cheated.......If anyone should be pissed it should be the family of Roger Maris

"Will Alex Rodriguez be breaking the HR record before or after Ken "A Sure Bet" Griffey does it?

Before. I don't see Griffey having a long enough career in order to break the record. "

I think he meant the fact that when Junior was younger, people were certain that he would one day break the record. Countless injuries later, I have to say, I'm amazed he got this close, and is still playing, but, the point is, baseball teaches us every day that you never know what's gonna happen, yet people will always think they do know what's gonna happen. I just hate how instead of a debate opening up about who might one day surpass Bonds, it's "heyyyyy, don't worry, Jack, A-Rod's breakin' the record! Tomorrow, I believe!" He's so far from it, the last thing people should be doing is assuming.

Beth--good point that Aaron went through a lot of horrible stuff. I don't think anyone could ever debate that.

Barry got death threats, too, though, and even if he's a scumbag, that's serious stuff. Also, I'll never know what it's like to be a black public figure, but I'm sure there are lots of times when it's not exactly fun. And all black athletes/stars go through that, even the ones who might be pricks anyway. And to further that point, maybe it's having to go through that that makes someone a prick.

Just as an aside, to anyone who thinks A-Rod is hitting 62 this year (as if that would somehow make him the "people's champ," like the Daily News said):

He's at 36, with 49 games left. So he needs 26 HR in 49 games, which would be like hitting 86 over 162 games. He'd basically have to repeat the crazy April he had, HR-wise, but keep up that pace for twice as long (til the end of the season).